Toni Farley has been involved in the social housing field for over 40 years, principally with the Provincial Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. At the time of her retirement in 2006, Toni was the Director of the Social Housing Branch and CEO and General Manager of the Ontario Housing Corporation. In this capacity, she was responsible for administering the Canada-Ontario Social Housing Agreement, the Social Housing Reform Act, program administration, operational policy development and risk management. During her tenure with the Ministry, Toni gained considerable experience in all facets of social housing - project development, administration, policy, and program development.
Following her retirement, she started Toni Farley & Associates, a consulting firm that provided a variety of housing services to senior levels of government, Service Managers, non-profit housing providers and sector organizations. She currently sits on the Board of three non-profit housing corporations.
Brenda is an integral part of our board of directors. In August 2011, Brenda Patterson was appointed Deputy City Manager of Cluster A - the Citizen Centred Services, a position she held until her retirement in November of 2014. As Deputy City Manager, Brenda was responsible for promoting collaboration and innovation both inside her cluster, across the organization, and with key partners and stakeholders. This enhanced cooperation provided citizens with better service and helped Council achieve its priorities. She is most proud of her work leading the City's integrated service delivery efforts for vulnerable individuals. Brenda's passion for equity and making life better for those in need is matched by a commitment to service excellence and finding fiscally sustainable solutions.
Brenda Patterson holds an Honours Bachelor of Applied Science, Child Studies degree from the University of Guelph and was awarded an Honorary Bachelor of Applied Science from Humber College.
Marsha Mongeau is TheMIGroup's former Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, responsible for leading all aspects of the company's financial function, including client financial services and audit, accounting, planning and reporting, treasury, tax and risk management. Marsha attended the University of British Columbia and the University of Windsor, graduating with Bachelor of Commerce degree. After her graduation, Marsha spent four years with PriceWaterhouseCoopers while completing her Chartered Accountants designation. Leveraging her experience in the logistics and real estate industries, Marsha joined TheMIGroup in 2004.
Marsha is from Toronto and is an experienced traveler having visited multiple destinations across Asia and Europe. Marsha served on TheMIGroup's Board of Directors, and is a member of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario and Canada.
Sylvia Patterson is a highly experienced housing and health care executive, with nearly 40 years of experience in leading change in government programs, while operating large multi residential real estate portfolios. Having retired in 2014 from the role of General Manager, Housing and Long Term Care at the Region of York, Sylvia continues to be active in Social Housing issues in Ontario through both her consulting practice and participation in sector organizations such as the Chartered Institute of Housing, of which she is a founding member. She has also held a number of Board roles including acting as President of the Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association, a Board member with the Central East CCAC, and as part of a core group of volunteers leading the governance renewal of a large private non-profit, Inter Faith Homes Group.
James Calderone is an affordable housing advocate based in Ontario. He has provided asset management services to co-op and non-profit housing communities for over 10 years. James has extensive experience in refinancing, capital project coordination, governance support and front-line administration.
James has a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree, Corporate Finance from the Schulich School of Business along with a Master in Environmental Studies Degree, Land-Use Planning and Housing from York University. He currently provides development support to long-term care and seniors housing providers in Ontario.
Martin Silver is a member of our board of directors. Martin possesses an Honours B.A. in Urban Studies from York University and went on to have an impressive career that spanned several decades. He worked as an Urban Planner and Administrator and acquired over 30 years of progressive experience in the fields of planning, development and project/construction management. Martin played an important role in the growth and operation of York Region's Municipal Non-Profit Housing Company as the General Manager. He previously worked as the Manager of Capital Delivery in the Property Services Branch of the Corporate Service Department with the Region of York.
Throughout the years, Martin has contributed to a plethora of organizations such as the Affordable Housing Committee, Bayview Village Ratepayers Association, Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association and the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association.
Hugh has worked in community housing for over 30 years and has been involved in property and tenancy management, housing development, sector agencies, and policy and legislative development. He retired in 2020 from Toronto Community Housing (TCHC) where he was leading the business side of a large technology transformation project. Prior to that he was the Director of Strategic Planning and Stakeholder relations for TCHC. Before starting with Toronto Community Housing, Hugh worked as the Manager of Policy in the Social Housing section at the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing in Ontario. He has been a board member of Rooftops Canada, the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association, the Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association and a member of the Chartered Institute of Housing.
Mylène joined SHS Consulting as Development Manager in April 2019 and
recently transitioned to the role of Principal, Real Estate Development. Mylène fell
in love with the affordable housing community-based sector when she most
recently served as Director of Building Services at the YWCA Hamilton. Her
previous experience includes 15 years' experience working in all aspects of
Corporate and Facilities Services management for the non-profit, academic and
pharmaceutical sectors. In addition to her broad experience, she brings a creative
approach to grants administration, and space and program development, with a
strong foundation in financial and project management.
Darren is a management consultant with Deloitte Canada, specializing in user design and innovation strategy for large public- and private-sector organizations. Darren has a passion for using human-centred design tools to unravel and understand the needs of the user in order to build winning propositions and products in the market. Beyond his involvement at Birch Housing, Darren is a proud Rotarian and is also the board member for Chrysalis Alberta.
Margie Carlson joined the Inter Faith Homes Group in 2018 bringing her substantial background in social and affordable housing to one of Ontario's larger community-based non-profit housing corporations. For over 25 years, she has undertaken housing policy, research, and best practices work for all three levels of government and the non-profit sector. Margie has always been a change agent, thought leader and idea generator. Her in-depth knowledge of housing programs, legislation, corporate structures and operations matched with her exposure to international best practices in community housing have given her a unique background in Canada. She has worked with non-profit boards, published reports, spoken at conferences and been a regular presence at ministerial working tables. In 2015, she worked with Senator Art Eggleton, Ed Clark and the other members of the Mayor's Task Force on Toronto Community Housing to help create a vision for transformative change for Canada's largest social housing provider.
